Voter Turnout by Election

* The National Voter Registration Act (“Motor Voter”) was implemented in Virginia beginning in March 1996. This Act allowed voter registration forms to be submitted through Department of Motor Vehicles offices and other designated agencies, or to be submitted by mail. Prior to NVRA, most applicants had to appear in person, before a registrar, in order to register. (Uniformed and Overseas voters were exempt from the in-person registration requirement.)

** Prior to implementation of the National Voter Registration Act (“Motor Voter”) in March 1996, any Virginia voter who had not voted in four years was removed from the voting rolls (“purged”). Significant purges after presidential elections (of voters who had registered for the previous presidential election but did not vote in the next one) were the norm. “Purges” of non-voters no longer occur. Now, under federal and state laws, a voter who appears to have moved from their residence of registration, but has not responded to a request to confirm their residence, is maintained on the voter lists as “inactive” through the next two federal elections. “Inactive” voters are eligible to vote if they re-register, or if they appear at the polls (or apply to vote absentee) and confirm that they have not moved (or have moved, but within the same locality and congressional district). If they do not reactivate their registrations, they are removed from the rolls after two federal elections have passed. The total number registered voters, in the chart above, includes active, inactive and overseas voters. (You may see these voters broken out into separate categories in other registration reports.)